It has become increasingly common for single golf clubs to be stolen at golf courses from unattended golf bags. As golf club prices continue to rise, replacement of stolen golf clubs could cost a golfer $500 or more. Although many securing devices are available in the industry, none provides a golfer the needed protection against club theft and, at the same time, user convenience.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,735 (Stusek) describes a device comprising three discs having a plurality of vias or holes formed therein. After golf clubs are inserted through the aligned, and thus open, vias, one or more of the discs can then be rotated with respect to a subjacent plate to partially close these holes in order to clamp the club shafts in place. This type of design has at least two limitations: (a) because of the different widths of the club shafts, the uniform size holes would force some of the club shafts to be held too tightly, thus damaging the finish of the club shafts, while others may be loosely held; (b) even if the holes were made of different sizes to accommodate different club shafts, or if a resilient material, such as graphite, were used to protect the shaft finish, the device may be too inconvenient to use or too costly to manufacture.
Another type of security device, such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,753 (Murphy), holds more than one golf club in a single slot or compartment. This type of design allows golf clubs to be in contact with each other and thus increases the opportunity for the clubs to be damaged.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a golf club locking device that offers not only the needed protection against theft, but also lower cost and convenience of use.